this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
6 points (100.0% liked)

Native Plant Gardening

927 readers
1 users here now

Why native plants?

According to the The National Audubon Society:

Restoring native plant habitat is vital to preserving biodiversity. By creating a native plant garden, each patch of habitat becomes part of a collective effort to nurture and sustain the living landscape for birds and other animals.

What our community is about—

This community is for everyone who is interested in planting native species in their garden. Come here for discussions, questions, and sharing of ideas/photos.

Rules:

  1. Don't be a jerk.
  2. Don't spam.
  3. Stay on topic.
  4. Specify your region in the post title. This is a global community, so designating your region is important.

More for you to explore—

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
LucidFeverDream@mander.xyz
6
"Cultural Tradition" (slrpnk.net)
submitted 2 weeks ago by wolfyvegan@slrpnk.net to c/nativeplantgardening@mander.xyz
8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Does anyone else find it ridiculous when people claim that a particular non-native plant is part of the "traditional diet" or "traditional medicine" of a particular culture? For example, I've heard many times that sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is the main staple in the "traditional" Okinawan diet, or that aloo gobhi (potato and cauliflower curry) is part of "traditional" Indian cuisine. If "traditional" is arbitrarily defined as going back only to the start of the use of the plant rather than the start of the culture, it seems to lose its significance. "Our culture has used this plant ever since our culture began to use this plant" does not convey anything meaningful. If people like to eat/use a non-native plant, fine, no problem at all, but to claim that it's a cultural tradition seems disingenuous.

The way that I see it (as a plant nerd), the only case in which this would make sense is if the founders of a particular culture brought the non-native plant with them when they first permanently settled the place. Does this resonate with anyone?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] WeevilFriend@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Personally I think what is left after a colonial genocide could definitely be considered a new culture, but I feel like it depends on how the people within it identify. Like sticking with the topic of indigenous peoples, the loss of traditions and language is a big deal, but that doesn't mean that the culture is different. Carrying on with whatever fidelity is possible seems like a fair way to cobsider yourself a continuation instead of a whole new deal.

Sorry if that's incoherent lol I'm not running at 100% today. I like talking about semantics

[–] wolfyvegan@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 weeks ago

All good. I don't think that there is a single correct answer to this.